Friday, April 24, 2015

I looked in Sam's drawers and realized he has no shorts and only maybe two pairs of pants that fit. He rocks onesies and rompers most of the time, but a boy's wardrobe isn't complete without a few good pairs of shorts.

I was crazy excited to see the new patterns from Oliver + S, especially the Parachute Polo + Sweatpants. Last fall there wasn't a boy offering so I was thrilled there was this time. Especially this, both pieces are boy staples. Don't worry, there's a girl's version of the polo included in the pattern and of course the pants are unisex.

Being it is already in the 80's here most days I knew pants weren't going to be the best, so I shortened the pants, but maybe not quite enough, ha!

I made the size 18 months for my 10 month (what?!) boy and used the Sunny Days Shorts for the approximate length. He wears 18 months RTW, but I didn't account for the fact that I only turn knit under once for the hem, and I didn't look at his height so I probably could have got away with the 12 month length. But, they will last for a while, which is perfect because I pretty much love them.

I did the button holes for the waistband and then managed to sew them to the inside of the waistband. I thought about unpicking for about five seconds then just decided to pay more attention next time.

I used a lightweight French Terry (for the first time ever) and it was perfect. Aside from the curling, but I could deal with that.

After I finished the first pair and realized what a quick and satisfying sew it was, I immediately cut out another pair and had them finished in about thirty minutes. Can't beat that.

This time I used a Ponte knit for the solid and the contrast. I happened to have a scrap of this blue stripe left from a maxi skirt I made myself (and never blogged) a while back, I was so excited it matched perfect and that I am a hoarder.

It hadn't crossed my mind, but today Liesl blogged a sweatpants inspiration post and one of the examples was to have the waistband contrast. I was just going to do the solid, but loved the idea of the stripe, though I didn't manage to get a great shot of it.

I also made him a School Bus Tee sized 18 month. And even though I KNOW to go based off his body measurements, I just went with his RTW size and it ended up huge on him. Which is better than too small, haha! And it isn't such a bad thing, he does have quite a few shirts in his drawers already.

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

My friend who orders from me from time to time requested mermaid suits. We talked over the specifics, and I was quite excited because I was already planning on making some for my girls and now I had an excuse. I wanted to try the pattern first and work out all the kinks before I move on to the ones I am selling.

The pattern I used was the Santa Monica Sweetheart Tankini both pieces in size 4. Georgia's top probably could have been a 3, she is pretty thin in the chest, the bottoms fit well though. I wanted the suits to be interchangeable, though they will likely stick with 'theirs'.

They were so funny, when I showed them the suits they started giggling uncontrollably. Then ripped off their clothes as soon as I gave the go-ahead and spent the afternoon pretending to be mermaids. They just got out of the mermaid bathtub and Iz asked if she could sleep in her suit. I call that a success.

Elizabeth picked pink from my swim stash, she wanted yellow but settled when the only yellow I had was a mustard. She didn't think it was yellow, ha!

I used the purple my friend picked for Georgia's, purple is her favorite color and I wanted to get a feel for the fabric. Turns out, the pink was excellent to work with and the purple wont hold a press.

The purple is super hard to photograph and get the true color.

I didn't like the way the binding was told to do in the instructions, so I did my own thing. Also why I wanted to try the suit first. I basically treated it like bias tape, which is why it would be great if it could hold a press.

Overall, I am really happy with the look and am glad I took the time to work out the kinks.

For day two of Kids Clothes Week, I wasn't planning on sewing, but Grandpa invited the girls to go in the hot tub with him and it just happened to coincide with Sam's nap. It was fate, I *had* to sew, ha! Luckily I already had something cut out and could get right to it, and being I had just made this pattern for a friend I didn't even need to look at the instructions so it was super fast.

I made the Shandiin Tunic in a size 4 with some extra length. I could have gone down a size, apparently, or even two for Georgia (on the left). It was hard to pick a size because there were only finished measurements, no body measurements, but how much ease? Oh well, I guess with the extra length they can get extra long wear out of these, if George can keep the straps up. But she is determined, because she loves it.

I hurried and got them ready as soon as they woke up, the big tree in our yard shades the front step for about an hour in the morning, they begged me to let them wear them even after we were done with the pictures (which was the plan) so I will call them a win.

Monday, April 20, 2015

So it's Kid's Clothes Week again, and the theme this time is Wild Things, which I can totally get behind. I haven't sewn along with the theme (save the one time Ben made a suggestion).

I have seen this dress on pinterest quite a bit, and thought it would be fun to try and recreate.

I used the Oliver + S Playtime Dress, size 4. Just like when I made this pattern last time I fully lined the bodice and left off the sleeves.

Ben doesn't think it looks like a fox, something about it needing black to make it look like it has ears or whatever. Kind of like the first thing he said when he saw Sam's shirt was that my applique didn't have enough legs. Always a critic, but I'll forgive him, even though now it doesn't look quite right to me.

This is her trying to make a fox sound, she cracks me up.

The white and the nose were sewn on, and the eyes are painted.

I was worried about the white being see through and also getting a nice curved shape, so I decided to cut two pieces for each side and sew them together. I sketched out the basic shape I wanted, then added a half inch for a seam allowance. Then, with wrong sides together I stitched the curve, turned it right side out and gave it a good steam, lined it up on my bodice and stitched one side at a time. Again, not wanting to deal with getting the nose nice and neat with a single layer, I sewed two pieces together leaving an opening at the bottom. In hindsight, the white was bigger than I really wanted it to be, but meh.

The girls have been loving their twirly dresses lately (let's be honest, what 3 year old little girl doesn't like a twirly dress?). Instead of using the pattern piece for the skirt, I used the length of the pattern piece but the width of the fabric. So, 88".

She was SO happy and couldn't stop spinning... until she fell. Then she took a break.

I took her to this neat little abandoned barn down the hill from our house that I see photographers at quite a bit. I drive past it all the time, but never got the appeal until today. It has some real potential, even though it is a really small building. Cool boarded up windows, broken signs, neat doors and a gorgeous tree right next to it.

So Ben did say that it looked slightly more like a fox when it was on the hanger, so I figured I'd add a shot of that, in case you are on his side.

And of course if I take pictures of one twin, the other will want her turn. She was angry I wouldn't take her to the spot I took Iz, but when I told her I would take it in front of our purple door (her favorite color) she settled.

They are both claiming this dress as their own, hopefully there wont be too many fights...

Monday, April 13, 2015

A few weeks ago, a friend pinned the Shandiin Tank and I commented that it was an easy sew and she could totally make it. A little bit later, she asked if I would be willing and said of course! She wanted something springy and coordinating for her girls, so I went through my stash and gave her a bunch of options.

So she chose two she liked and left it up to me to decide if they should have contrasting fabrics for the bindings and back, and who would get which print. I thought it would be fun, and in true coordinating fashion to make the contrasts out of the opposite main fabric.

I just love the back of these tops. The one I made for Abby was only worn once other than pictures, sigh. But I remembered not liking how low the arms were cut for her, so for the bigger one I sized down the top and added length since her oldest is tall and thin.

Thursday, April 9, 2015

So, Easter outfits didn't get finished, but I am okay with it. I completed George's dress, two pairs of Art Museum trousers (one for each boy), and nearly finished a Fairy Tale for Iz (still needs the sash and hand sewing). I am easily distracted, though, and needed a quick and mindless project after having sick kids and deep cleaning a bunch of rooms in the house. So when Rachel posted today about sewing for dolls I decided the girls needed popovers and matching doll dresses.

The whole time I was making them, they were asking 'awe my dwesses finished yeeeeet mooooom?' So I decided to give them the dresses before I made the doll ones, or before I told them about the doll dresses, just in case I don't get to them for a while.

They pretty much love the dresses, George decided she *had* to have the bug one, and set about convincing Elizabeth she should like the striped one. (It's hard to tell here, but there are diagonal stripes in peach and cream).

They loved the dresses, but not so much taking the pictures.

It was a struggle to get them both to look at the camera.

Let alone stand up straight at the same time.

Then Elizabeth decided we should recreate the pose from this post, it's the background on my phone and she loves looking at it.

So then Georgia reminded her that it was her head on Izzy's shoulder, to which Iz refused because it was 'her turn'.

This one cracks me up. Side eyes.

So Iz decided to help Georgia look, but of course couldn't be bothered to look herself.

In the end, I settled for a semi blurry one. Plus, it was time for Grandma day.

Okay, so deets on the pattern. I used the Oliver + S Popover Sundress in a size 4 with the length of a 5. It is still quite big on George in the chest, so I wanted to add length for extended wear.

When Grandma day was over, I took my camera there to snap a few more. But, Elizabeth had just woken up after falling asleep in the car and wasn't really in to cooperating. I told her she could have a creamy if I could change her shoes and take a picture really quickly. Nope, she didn't want to change the shoes- that was fine. And insisted on keeping the popsicle in the picture. Meh, I didn't have high expectations.

In this picture you can see the stripes a little bit. I used a chambray for the yoke and bias straps and added a bit of piping just to the front.

She has this tick when she is upset or anxious, she twists her hair. It is better if I keep it in a pony tail or pig tails, we have had to undo knots when left down.

For Georgia's I used fabrics I have had for-ever! A few years back I scored a bunch of Riley Blake + Michael Miller prints for under $3/yd and these were both from then. I was waiting for the perfect project, it feels nice to finally use them.

When I showed them the dresses, George shouted 'just like my panda dolly dress!' She has been playing a lot with Abby's dolls, so (someday) when I finish her matching dress I am sure she will be so excited.